


The Walking Vengeance

by SleepyKalena



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: (chapter 2 only), (unless you count the train scene), Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst, Blood, Derogatory Language, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Pre-Rogue One, Smut, Sólo Quiero Caminar AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-08 09:53:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14102841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyKalena/pseuds/SleepyKalena
Summary: Cassian is in a deep-cover assignment to gather intel for the Alliance, but the venture is proving to be taxing with very little to show for it. Then, one day, things go awry for his boss and is instructed to go after Liana Hallik.[My take on a rebelcaptain SQC AU]





	1. Chapter 1

She was supposed to be a target.

A mission.

“A whore,” he was told.

If he could roll his eyes back, he would. But that's not what makes a good undercover agent. He knew better than that. Cassian Andor of Rebel Intelligence knew better than that.

His undercover persona, Bi’el, however, could get away with a slight hint of disdain for the situation unfolding in front of him.

Bi’el pursed his lips slightly and let the smoke blow out of his nose, having just taken a drag. It was hard to play right-hand-man for an Imperial officer such as this one, but Cassian was no rookie, and neither was Bi’el. The man's sleaze reached new heights, however, as he handed Bi’el a holo of a woman.

He looked closely and noticed that her face was tired, but full of determination. Her eyes spoke of a goal she yearned to meet, and would stop at nothing to reach it, but her lips were downturned almost naturally, as if she lived a life of such sorrow that her frown became the new default and had overwritten any previously conceived concept of peace.

The holo was voyeuristic, recorded as she had walked down a busy pathway. Her steps had a goal, though her gait was short and easy-going. It was as though she wanted to tell the world she was going to take her time getting from A to B, but only because she wouldn’t let any force in the galaxy slow her down. Cassian imagined, for just a moment, what the sway in her hips looked like in person, without the shoddy quality of the downsized holo. The walk was incredibly alluring as-is; if he saw it in person, he guessed that it'd hypnotize him entirely.

No, Cassian can't think this of her- it had to be Bi’el. 

That’s right. To Bi’el, this woman was a target, and an alluring target. But still a target.

Bi’el looked back up and into the eyes of the officer. “What about her?”

“She’d recently been released from prison. Not sure how that could happen when you're left on Wobani, but it means she managed to call in a few favors,” he said calmly. But the way his thumbs twiddled as his hands were folded on the table between them, Bi’el knew his “boss” was anything  _ but _ calm. “My whore of a wife is close friends with her and a few others, and I suspect they might be conspiring against me. I need you to find out what that whore knows, what she’s planning, and report to me so that I can prepare to fight back.”

Cassian wasn't fond of the word “whore,” but it was a word Ilex continually insisted on using. “It’s just one whore,” Bi’el commented. “You can’t just buy it off her?” It was a workable strategy so far when Ilex had people he wanted to silence or sway.  _ “Money can get you far,” _ he normally boasted, to the point where it may as well have been emblazoned on his family sigil.

Ilex shook his head. “Bi’el, my friend, she is more than a whore- she is a woman. And you cannot bribe a woman. Not like this one. Money is not what they’re after. Find a weakness for me to exploit. I’ll make sure you’re given a credit chip to better facilitate this. I need to stop them from ruining me.”

This was a lot to take in for a casual invitation to breakfast. Bi’el took another drag, this one long and deep, and he nodded briskly in agreement as he turned away to blow it out. Cassian wondered, in the back of his mind, if being sent on this deep-ops mission was worth the lack of intel they were getting. Several months of being Ilex’s footstool only got him a bit of money, but no meaningful intel that couldn’t be obtained at a local bar with some effort.

“This is a lot of paranoia for a whore getting out of prison,” Bi’el commented casually as he pushed the holo back across the table towards Ilex, dodging the bright and intricately-designed porcelain. Ilex may be excessive in many ways, but he was no fool; Bi’el was complaining. The assignment seemed pointless. And, given Cassian’s personal frustration with this mission, the complaint was genuine, even if it was buried in a different persona.

Ilex took a sip of his blue milk and set it back down on the table. “This is what I get for marrying a whore- always trying to steal out from under you. First my heart, and now my money and reputation.”

“You chucked her out of your airspeeder and left her comatose,” he remarked bluntly.

“Oh come on, Bi’el, it was an accident! Things were said, and now my poor wife had to be wrapped up in all this. It’s what happens when you love someone too much,” Ilex lamented, as though his words were enough to convince Bi’el. Outwardly, Bi’el shook his head and scoffed, an amused dismissal. Inwardly, however, Cassian wanted to gag at Ilex’s twisted idea of “love”. Shoving Ilex’s head back onto the prim tabletop before shooting him with a blaster clean between the eyebrows was the kindest death Cassian would have loved to grant him, and was disappointed that he’d been given orders not to kill until enough intel had been accumulated. Once he got the all-clear from Draven to execute the target, however...

“Next time you decide to get married, perhaps think with the head upon your shoulders instead of the one between your legs,” Bi’el chuckled. 

Ilex laughed in turn. “Ah, well, you know me, Bi’el, I’ve built an empire for myself, and I indulge myself wherever I can. Her lips were just too good to me, and I wanted to make her mine.” And with that, he waved Bi’el away, clearly wishing to be left alone to the comfort of his second wave of breakfast food that a droid had just walked in with.

Bi’el took his blaster off the table and re-holstered it behind his back, then got up to walk away without another word.

“Oh, by the way-” Ilex started.

Bi’el paused turned his head, just enough to direct his ear towards his boss.

“If she resists, kill her.”

He nodded and left.

Cassian had done a lot of questionable things in the past, killed a lot of people to advance the Rebellion’s efforts. The woman on the holo? Not linked to his true mission. Rather than kill someone unrelated to his larger goal, much less someone who was being targeted for petty reasons, he decided to relegate the task to another hitman, if it came down to it. Even if Bi’el may not be above killing her, Cassian refused to get his hands dirty like that.

_ But your hands are already dirty _ , a part of him whispered as he walked.

Another, darker part of him whispered soon after:  _ Coward _ .


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual, I have no chill, and have written a little under 5k's worth of a "smut with feels" chapter. I hope it met expectations, because I had NO idea this many people were actually gonna read this thing LOL
> 
> The rest of the chapters will be under 3k though- promise!
> 
> side note: this is incredibly un-revised and un-beta'd, so i'm sorry for any weirdly worded sentences, run-ons, and typos. I'll go back 'round to make revisions later. Thanks for bearing with me!

She was supposed to be a target.

A mission.

Someone to surveil.

Bi’el made sure to wait long enough to ensure she made it to her room, so as to not be caught sneaking around, before entering the hotel.

His footsteps, walking with the confidence associated with his identity, clacked against the tiled floor, the sound echoing slightly off the walls of the quiet, rather empty hotel lobby. He took note of how spacious the place was. And yet, not a single person was present, save for the lone concierge behind the long and lonely counter. The decor wasn’t upscale per se- rather, the entire lobby reeked of overcompensation, as if it was trying to convince its patrons that it was a comparable establishment amidst a sea of other, more expensive, truly fancy joints that dignitaries and high-rollers would find themselves in. It was as though it were denying any accusation that shady back-door deals were being made behind its hotel room doors. Though, if Cassian could venture a guess, there was probably more than _one_ type of back-door transaction happening in a place like this. But, at the very least, privacy was demanded (expected, even), and the staff seemed to be happy enough to oblige. It may have been to her benefit, but he was just as sneaky as her, just as cunning, with a mission of his own, and it, too, was beneficial for him, as it only made it easier to follow her movements.

Hopefully her privacy could be bought.

Bi’el placed the holo on the countertop and turned it on. The footage of his target walking down a street flickered to life, the blue light glowing between them.

“Recognize this girl?” he said.

The concierge, baby-faced but obviously tired from his shift, nodded.

“Give me her name.”

“Liana Hallik.”

“We both know that can't be her real name.”

The concierge shrugged. “It was the only name she gave. She's even got the scandocs to show for it.”

 _Likely forged_ , he thought wryly.

Bi’el fished out a credit chip and placed it next to the holo. “Everything she does, everywhere she goes, everyone she calls...Report it to me.”

Cassian hoped this would be enough so that he wouldn’t have to resort to more “aggressively persuasive” methods.

Slowly, the concierge looked at the credit chip, his eyes drifting to the side contemplatively.

Bi’el wanted to drum his fingers against the countertop, or even start reaching for his blaster, but he reminded himself that doing so would spook the concierge. People who spook easily also tended to act irrationally. He didn't feel like dealing with the variables, nor would Cassian.

Ultimately the concierge nodded and took the credit chip, swiping it off the table and clutching it tightly like it was his lifeline.

 

It had been a few days since then, and Bi’el was starting to notice a routine from Liana. She would wake up in the morning, head out at around the same time each day, get something to eat, look around, do some shopping, even visit Vivian, who was still comatose, eat again, and head back to her room for the rest of the night. Rinse and repeat.

Until she called the front desk in the middle of the night: “This is Liana Hallik. Call the Corellian Cavaliers. Have them send someone to my room. No type preference. But tell them to make sure he’s decent.”

The concierge looked up at Bi’el as he slid another credit chip across the counter. “If the escort comes, just give him this and send him away.”

The concierge looked as though he wanted to ask Bi’el what he planned to do, but the extra credit chip that appeared on the counter indicated that he made the right decision by not saying another word.

Cassian sighed as he climbed the flight of stairs to Liana’s room. Sleeping with a target wasn’t his favorite thing to do, and actively tried to avoid doing so, but if it meant getting to search for a possible weakness under the guise of an escort delivering services without getting shot or scrutinized, then he’d take it. As long as it meant not having to kill someone. He’d done enough of that in the past week alone from tidying up Ilex’s loose threads from shady credit forging deals with other gangs. He didn’t want to have to think about doing that to her.

But he certainly wasn’t thinking about what he’d do with his hands on her hips, nor was he thinking about the way they swayed as she walked each day from one location to the next, or her the way her tightly-wound hair bun bounced slightly with each step. He definitely was _not_ thinking about how full her lips were, or the way they crooked as she smirked. Definitely not. Bi’el was, and he enjoyed it, but not Cassian. Cassian was a professional, after all. This interest in her was simply part of his cover.

The door to her room was slightly ajar when he made his way to Liana’s floor. Cassian approached it, his guard up, wondering if she had actually found him out and was waiting for him to open the door so she could strike, beat him down, and move on like he was just another stepping stone towards her goal. So, rather than opening the door straight away, Bi’el loosened his tie, cleared his throat, and rapped gently on the door, the hinges creaking as the door swung slightly from the force of the knocks.

“Come in,” a voice called back.

Bi’el had been observing her from a far enough distance that he didn’t actually know what her voice sounded like, but when he finally did, it was like his ears had taken a sip of one of Ilex’s high-end whiskey- slightly sweet, slightly bitter, complex in flavor, and went down smooth, save for a subtle burning at the end. He wanted to hear more.

He pushed the door open and shut it quietly behind him. She was sitting upright at the side of her bed, her back facing him, already naked.

Quickly, Bi’el scanned the room to get a feel for Liana’s personality. Much like her walking, her possessions were simple and functional. Practical. Non-indulgent. A duffle bag rested on the seat of the chair. The closet was opened slightly, with two hangers of clothes on display. Her clothes for the day were a pile on the desk. A basic hoverbike leaned against the farthest wall. He remembered that she purchased one when he first started tailing her, but it occurred to him that she hadn’t actually ridden it yet, not even once. Yet somehow there was already evidence of wear and tear.

In the three steps it took him to finish his assessment and face Liana, he realized that there wasn’t much to her at all- in fact, there was so little to gather from her movements, her possessions, and the clean state of her hotel room that he worried there wouldn’t be a weakness _to_ exploit. Ilex wouldn’t be happy about that.

“You’re a bit handsome for a Cavalier,” she remarked.

“You told the company to send someone decent. So here I am,” he answered with indifference. A male escort. That’s all Bi’el would be. Cassian just had to zone out and not think too hard at whatever Liana might have in store for him.

She looked at Bi’el expectantly, and he noticed her eyes were an intense green that drew him in. Paired with her skin, paler than his own, it reminded him of the milk Ilex would pour in his Gatalentan green tea, the fine powder whisked in so well that the froth danced and swirled with the milk.

Bi’el felt his throat dry all of a sudden, and he swallowed.

His thoughts were interrupted by Liana tossing a condom at him. “Strip, then wrap up. If you'd prefer, use the bathroom to get ready,” she pointed.

Clearly, Liana was using this as a business transaction as much as any other escort, uninterested in feelings or emotion, and only invested in the physical benefits of this encounter. Perhaps this escort service, a desire to be touched to satisfy a carnal need, was the only exploitable weakness she had.

He emerged from the bathroom and set his clothes over the back of the chair and turned to face her. Liana's stare was rather blank, a bit fatigued, like she had other things on her mind. Was this how she treated all the escorts?

Bi'el himself had a hard time getting in the mood, so he decided to focus on her naked form to see if it would help. As he took in her image, he noticed how tiny but strong she was. Muscles were defined not just in her arms, but her chest, her thighs, her stomach…

But her body had taken quite a bit of damage over the years. She was marked with faded scars, cuts, and a few bruises here and there. He'd only been tracking her for the better part of a week, and yet it was evident that she’d recently been through some physical hardships. Before he could think too much about what sort of life Liana lived to have caused so many marks, he noticed that she, too, was staring back at his own body. It dawned on him then and there that he’d ignored the appearance of his own skin, which also had a number of questionable scars from his own past, each one a story he suspected she was curious to find out.

Bi’el and Liana looked at each other, acutely aware of how naked they were in front of each other.

In the interest of getting this transaction over with, however, Bi’el smiled and turned on his charm, simple techniques he learned while on the field (and, if Cassian cared to admit, things he learned from previous missions). He came even closer, closing the distance between them. Cupping her face in his hands, Bi’el tilted her head gently upwards to get a better look at her, and he tried not to get too lost in her stare as he said sweetly, “You’re so beauti-”

“Sit,” she said without missing a beat.

It took even Cassian by surprise. She paid for a Corellian Cavalier- did she not care for the pomp and circumstance of verbal teasing? Bi’el was a bit slack-jawed at her curtness, but he nodded and obliged, sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.

As she got up off the bed and faced him, she said, in a disinterested voice, “Payment will be given at the end of our session, determined by your performance. Are we clear on that?”

Bi’el nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said as she climbed up onto his lap to straddle him.

“Whatever you wish,” he responded, realizing just a bit too late that he was smirking at his own wit. Bi’el was aware that he wasn’t remotely hard yet, but as Liana’s thighs squeezed against his own, and her pert nipples grazed his chest, he felt a desire stirring in him that he hadn’t felt before.

Cassian, however, recognized that desire, and realized just how long it had been since he’d had this much skin-on-skin contact with a woman.

Bi’el reached up to brush the back of his hand against Liana’s cheek. “Give me a moment,” he asked softly as his arms wrapped around her, letting his hands run across the planes of her shoulder blades, her back, her waist, and her hips. His fingers felt every bump from every cut and scar, and Bi’el was surprised to find that her skin was soft in spite of her rough exterior. His hands snuck down to the curve of her ass, and he squeezed each cheek gently, causing Liana to breathe in deeply and press her body more closely against his. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she rested her forehead on his shoulder for stability.

His arousal was much stronger than he thought, and he felt himself grow stiffer each time his hands smoothed themselves out all over her bare body. As if on instinct, she lifted her hips just as Bi’el noticed he was hard and ready to enter her, and Cassian reminded himself to stay focused so as to not lose his concentration and train of thought as he tried to maintain his cover.

Even with the condom on, Bi’el was _not_ ready for the warm sensation that awaited him as she sank down, his cock sliding easily inside her.

Bi’el sighed at the friction between them at the point of connection, and he gripped her hips a bit more tightly to control her hip movements. They rolled slowly, the muscles in her glutes engaging and relaxing rhythmically. He closed his eyes and tried to maintain his composure- as much as he wanted to indulge in the pleasure, he didn’t want to lose himself in her, not like this. He needed to satiate her appetite, and, for humanoid women, that meant going nice and easy, and building the intensity from there. The more he could focus on her pleasure, the more satisfied she’d be, and the less she would suspect his ties to Ilex.

But then Liana lifted her hips without warning, clearly impatient with his pace. She lifted them high enough to the point where his cock was almost entirely unsheathed, then slammed her hips down hard, her skin slapping against his with a resounding clap.

Bi’el had to hold back a grunt at the sudden rush of pleasure.

To match pace with her, he wrapped his arms around her more tightly around her ribs, pulling her towards him before picking her up slightly and thrusting her back down onto him, and he let out a low, pleasured growl. Seemingly pleased with the new pace, still slow but more forceful, Liana's hands carded his hair, tugging gently at first, but each thrust he made caused her to tighten her grip, her breathing finally becoming as labored as his.

Bi’el pushed her upper body back just a bit to grab at her breasts, but was interrupted when Liana firmly gripped his shoulders and said with a straight face: “Harder.”

 _No wonder she had to specify she wanted someone “decent_ ”.

He picked up the pace, using the heightened bounce to bring her hips to his with much more force, and Liana let out small whimpers.

His arms were getting tired and his breathing was getting harsher, but despite the growing fatigue Bi’el couldn't find it in him to give up or slow down. He just couldn’t stop.

Liana threw her head back after they established a rhythmic (if slightly frantic) pace, allowing Bi’el to have full view of her bouncing breasts, bouncing high before jiggling softly with each impact. Her hips started to roll and grind against his to add dimension to their thrusting, and Bi'el grit his teeth to keep from moaning. Deeper and deeper he drove, her walls becoming slicker and slicker against his cock each time their hips met. Afraid that she would lean back too far and fall off, he grabbed her close and held her tightly, letting his hands paw at her back possessively. Liana reciprocated the gesture, but the longer they kept it up, the more her fingers began to dig into the muscles of his back. He slammed into her again, surprising Liana by hitting a deep spot that hadn’t been explored yet, and her nails raked down his back, causing his nerves to light up with pleasure and send a shiver down his spine.

He let out a moan. An actual, unrestrained moan.

Bi’el couldn't believe it.

He couldn't believe how good this felt.

He couldn’t believe how good _she_ felt.

He could feel her all over him, but it wasn’t enough- the gaps between them were still too wide, still too distant, his body still too hungry for more.

So he gave in to that hunger and let his tongue savor the rest of her.

Bi'el tugged her hair at the nape to expose her neck before licking at her pulse point. She gasped, and he felt emboldened to keep going. He let his physical instincts take over, and he continued to run his tongue up and down her neck. Unable to resist her repeated gasps, now turned to desperate panting, he sucked on her neck gently, right at the sensitive spot that Bi'el himself would be ticklish from.

She let out a soft moan.

It was a restrained noise- slightly choked- but it was the first one he managed to get out of her, and the sound was so sweet, so gentle, so intimate.

He _longed_ to hear her like that again.

He managed to part from her long enough just to say “Bed, now,” and was surprised to find that she followed his instruction without any resistance.

She stood so tall and confident when she was out and about that it surprised him to see just how tiny her frame was as he hovered over her. There was a toughness to her character and the way she carried herself that she seemed almost like a completely different person, panting, wanting, and hungry for what he had to offer her.

It only aroused him more.

He was relieved to finally change positions, letting his knees dig comfortably into the mattress to gain better footing and using the bed springs to help him continue the pace and energy they both clearly craved. Still hungry for more of her, he sucked on her neck, still as gently as he did before, but then his lips traced her collarbone, then her sternum, down he went, before sucking deep red marks onto the flesh of her pale breasts. Each mark he left behind elicited a moan for him to take in like a connoisseur appreciating a glass of quality wine, and he indulged in her milky scent as he sucked on one of her nipples.

Liana nearly yelped in surprise at Bi’el’s hunger, moaning and writhing underneath him as he alternated between nibbling and sucking, occasionally soothing the surface languidly with his tongue over the sensitive skin.

It wasn’t enough. Their bodies were practically melting into each other, their hands caressing and groping at every surface of skin possible, yet somehow it still wasn’t enough. Bi’el couldn’t even begin to understand why or how much he wanted-

“More,” she gasped, so overwhelmed by the heat between them that her hands switched between clutching the sheets, squeezing his hips, and scratching further at his back.

Not wanting to waste time by answering, he dove back down to her neck to leave a love bite before nibbling her earlobe, letting his teeth clamp down harder to match the heightened pitch of her moans. Her hands snaked down to his ass and she grabbed on tightly, pulling his hips as if to beg for even more. Bi’el complied with her groping, thrusting as deep as he could manage, gripping her hips so tightly he was practically squeezing her as he reached as deep as he could go, and another moan escaped her lips.

Bi’el let his hips roll at an easier pace while he moved his forearms up to either side of Liana’s shoulders and closed his eyes as his head rested on the pillow. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up; she seemed like she wanted more out of him, but it wouldn’t be much longer until he came.

But then one of Liana’s hands moved up to meet his, and her fingers brushed against his balled up fist. As his fingers relaxed under her touch, she laced her fingers with his, one by one, before closing her hand to hold his.

He stopped thrusting and pulled back to look at her, and at that moment, Bi’el had completely disappeared.

Liana stared up at Cassian, and he realized that they were both now looking at each other, truly, for the first time. Her face was flush, as though she were embarrassed to be seen like this, but her eyes reflected an invitation to join her in the inner cave in which she hid. They no longer looked empty or glazed or disinterested, and he drew in a sharp breath at the sight. It was sincere, it was vulnerable, it was...beautiful.

He felt himself longing to wander in that cave and see what was inside. What sorts of things would she put in her safe space? Is it dark and cramped, or bright and comfortable? Regardless, she left the door open just a crack, much like her hotel room, and here he was once again, rapping at the door and quietly letting himself in, seeing her naked- _truly_ naked.

Entranced by her gaze and encouraged by the fact that their hands were still interlaced, he slowly reached up to her hair. He brushed aside the stray strands stuck to her sweaty face and tucked it behind her ear before trailing his hand lower down to the nape of her neck. Understanding his intentions, Liana lifted her head slightly, allowing Cassian to tug at the elastic in her tightly-wound bun, and her hair was freed, cascading down her shoulders. As she lowered her head back down and her hair fanned out to frame her face under the soft pillow, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

The kiss was hesitant at first, and just a tiny bit unsure, but as her jaw relaxed and her mouth opened just slightly to let him take her all in, he deepened it just a bit more and poured in everything he could into it- the apologies, the unsaid declarations, the emotions he couldn’t figure out right away (or care to figure out, ever, if it meant delaying their parting of ways). She let go of his hand to cup his face, refusing to let him stop, a physical response to his confession he’d never let himself forget.

Cassian slowly resumed his thrusting, rolling his hips against hers in a leisurely pace. Her moans became more desperate as they continued to kiss, and he happily swallowed each one.  Soon, his lips traveled downwards more, and he kissed the more sensitive points of her body, having only recently been discovered with his tongue. He pressed a firmer kiss to each scar, cut, and scrape her could find on her body, treating each kiss like small genuflection in the worship of her body. Cassian then wrapped his arms around her in an embrace, and he broke the kiss to press his forehead against hers. Liana responded by looking right back at him, and as he marveled at the brilliant green, he breathed, “I can’t go on much longer.”

She tilted her face to press her nose against his. “Don’t worry.”

Her hands gripped his biceps for purchase while bucking her hips from underneath Cassian to help him thrust harder.

The last thing he remembered before having an intense, long-overdue orgasm was the feel of her lips as she kissed him back, softly and tenderly.

 

Given how much more time he spent with her than anticipated, Cassian didn’t give himself much time to recover before getting up to change back into his clothes.

Looking back at Liana, her naked body spread out and tangled in the sheets as she tried to catch her breath, Cassian realized the magnitude of what just happened.

He let himself go. To an assigned target.

It was more than just giving in to his desires; he let a part of him, a true part of him, exposed for her to observe, scrutinize, pick apart for studying. He left a secret entrance left wide open, and Liana walked right in.

And, not only did she walk in, she observed the nooks and crannies of the safe space in the deepest corners of his mind. But rather than be put off by the things he had in it, she did something highly unexpected: she started dusting the space. Straightening the frames. Drawing back the curtains to let the light in for just a moment. She sat in the chairs of his secret space and got comfortable. She even straightened up the books in the shelves, helping him remember what had rattled loose in his mind, reminding him that his humanity slipped just a bit, an intruder reorganizing the shelves as though to cheekily ask, “Who _are_ you, really?”

She left his space as he orgasmed, shutting the curtains before leaving and locking the door on the way out, but despite breaking and entering, she took absolutely nothing.

Cassian wondered, just for a bit, if he should feel glad that she didn’t run off with his heart.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked as he fastened his belt.

He looked at her as he got started on his shoes. “I thought you said you'd determine the payment based on my performance.”

She paused. It was clear that she'd forgotten she’d told him that. Did she also feel just as taken aback and caught off-guard by their time together? Did she realize he entered her space in the same way she entered his?

“You were better than any of the men that the Cavaliers sent. Tell me- how much do you want to be paid for this?”

He finally put on his jacket. “Nothing.”

The confused look on her face was rather cute.

“Absolutely nothing?”

He nodded, already making his way towards the door. “You were better than anyone I’ve ever had.”

“You mean, ‘any client’?”

Cassian contemplated the accidental word choice, but decided to be demure about it rather than explain himself: “If that makes you more comfortable, yeah.”

He smiled at her as he left the room, and he could’ve sworn he saw a slight wrinkle in her eyes, a smile back, before shutting the door behind him.

 

Bi’el headed back to the airspeeder he came in, piloted by one of Ilex’s sweeter, if less sophisticated associates.

“Oh thank goodness; I was worried something might’ve happened to you. I should’ve warned you to be careful with that one,” the pilot said.

“Who, the whore?”

The pilot nodded. “She looks like the kind that turn boys into men, and men into boys.” He turned to look at Bi'el. “A man like you should be careful.”

As the airspeeder took off, Bi'el stared out at the cityscape and scoffed at the irony. The poor man never even interacted with her, a bumbling man who stumbles on his own mistakes more often than not, and yet he nailed Liana's personality so well from only a furtive glance. Bi’el had to _actually_ nail Liana himself to realize that.

He wondered if that meant he was getting in too deep with her.

There was a beeping noise, and the pilot reached for the comms.

“We caught one of the whores red-handed,” Ilex’s voice came out from the device. “One of our own, even: that single mom with a son. Tried to sneak in to one of my safes. Interrogate her.”

“Understood,” Bi’el responded. Hopefully he could do this as painlessly as possible. Cassian had his own ways of getting people to talk. If Bi’el could manage to interrogate her alone, then Cassian could get what Bi’el needed and let her get off easy.

“I don’t want any mistakes in this,” Ilex continued. “I’m on my way to the office to supervise this.”

“We’ll be there in 15,” Bi’el said before the pilot put the comm away.

Cassian wasn’t a fan of this turn of events- it meant that Bi’el would have to use his standard methods of interrogation, most of them involving chains and hammers.

He sighed.

Smashing her fingers one-by-one, joint-by-joint, in order to get her to talk was extremely unpleasant, but it was one of Bi’el’s signature methods of getting people to talk.

Cassian’s heart felt heavy at the thought of the impending torture session, and he wondered how much of this was all worth it. For the past year and a half, Bi’el was doling out senseless punishment after senseless punishment, and not even at his choosing, all to serve an Imperial officer who had his nose stuck in the rears of other, more influential Imperials. Ilex was a rat.

 _Takes a rat to know a rat,_ the voice inside him hissed.

No, Cassian was no rat, he was fighting for a good cause-

_By smashing the fingers of one of Ilex’s hardest working employees, a single mother who probably only needed the money to sustain herself. All for his benefit instead of hers._

If Cassian continued to fight for the cause, it would all be worth it, all the wrongs would be justified, and everyone would be free-

_Except you continue to hide behind the face of the enemy, doing exactly what they would do to advance their selfish needs._

Cassian shook the thoughts away and slipped back into Bi’el’s persona as the speeder headed towards Ilex’s headquarters.

But the darker voice came back and lingered in his mind: _Coward._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the Train Scene™~

She was supposed to be a target.

A mission.

Another thing to do for Ilex in hopes that he might actually obtain intel worth delivering back to base.

So why did Cassian find himself feeling guilty for being excited to see Liana again, to have another chance at enjoying her presence in a crowded hovertram?

Bi’el spotted her standing and leaning against a pole inside the agreed-upon meeting place, her frame already so familiar despite the short time they've known each other. Pushing his way through the crowd, he went up to her and slowly placed a hand on her shoulder.

She stiffened.

He pressed his cheek against her ear, mumbling quietly, “It's me.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little, but a hint of formality remained.

It wasn't a surprise- Ilex finally figured out what they were planning and gave her a choice: give up the evidence she had against him, or be killed along with the rest of Vivian’s friends. Liana relented, knowing that choosing the latter meant orphaning the son of one of Vivian's friends (a sweet lad, really), and chose to keep the family intact. As it was, Bi’el was lucky that she didn't stab him on the spot for smashing that same friend's hand as punishment for trying to conspire against Ilex while under his employment.

For all of Ilex’s liberal use of the word “whore” in all its vitriol, Liana was proving to have more nuances than he gave her credit for, evidenced by her willingness to submit to Ilex’s demands. The signature glare he’d been acquainted with wasn't cold and hateful, but rather simply jaded. Being jaded was a different kind of hate, harder to fix than pure hatred; it was born out of sadness of one's own circumstances, wrapped with fatigue from having to carry the weight of its effects.

It was a feeling that Cassian was all too familiar with.

It had been so long since someone touched him- Bi’el, Cassian, it didn’t matter at this point- the way she did the other night. But as he took in her daytime aura, it dawned on him that it had also been so long since he found someone that he could relate to. If only she knew he was above this, above the dirty dealings of a corrupt Imperial officer, that he wasn't Bi’el, but _Cassian_ , that they could fight together instead of each other…

“You got the credit chips?” Liana asked, her hand snaking behind her to tap his stomach with Vivian's diary, the proof that would crush Ilex and screw over his underground operations.

Bi’el nodded. He had to argue on their behalf to give them _some_ type of compensation aside from just “their lives”. Fishing the credit chips out of his pocket, he pressed them against the small of her back, proof that he had them in hand. In one swift move, she let go of the diary and Bi’el grabbed it while Liana clutched the credit chips. As they both pocketed their acquisitions, the hovertram doors slid shut with a hiss, and the two were trapped, surrounded by the crowd of riders who were unaware of the tension between them. Little did everyone around them know that they were two enemies, pressed together as though they were anything but while they waited for the next stop.

Cassian wished they could be anything but enemies.

Liana loosened her grip on the pole and attempted to walk away, but Cassian squeezed her arm gently.

“Don’t worry; I won't hurt you,” he assured her, his voice soft and genuine. “Please, don't leave.”

Liana paused, debating if she should even listen to him.

But then she leaned back slightly and pressed her back against his chest, relaxing further. Cassian reached up and grabbed on to the pole as well, causing his arm to wrap slightly around her- a subtle embrace.

His other hand let go of her arm and slowly snaked lower to the back of her hand. His fingers spread out slightly and brushed against hers, a request to lace her fingers with his, just like that night.

Despite finding out that he was working for the very man from whom she sought vengeance, Liana took in a deep breath and pushed her hand against his, fingers likewise spreading. They found their way between his own fingers, as though they tried to read between the lines of his identity and the way he treated her the other night. She squeezed her hand gently, his fingers pressing into her palm, and Cassian found it difficult to slip back into his cover persona. He breathed in deeply, turning his head slightly to press his nose against the side of her head to take in the scent of her hair, and it brought him back to that night, when their true interactions began. The flashbacks came and went, and he relished in the memory of how her flesh rubbed against his, the feel of it so sweet, the warmth enveloping him in a way he had nearly forgotten.

He didn't want the hovertram to arrive at the next station.

Her head leaned closer in return, nuzzling her head against his nose, and he let go of her hand to pull her hair back and expose her ear. As the hovertram rattled slightly and swayed as the tracks turned, his lips crashed against the top edge of her ear, and he could hear Liana puff out a slow, controlled breath.

Her hand reached behind to clutch his jacket, tugging gently, and Cassian pushed his hips towards her more, their bodies finally coming in to full contact with each other.

Cassian closed his eyes and took in every sensation he could focus on- her scent, the feel of her body, the rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing, a clear attempt at staying steady and collected. He yearned for more of her, even as he too was trying to keep his composure. His free hand gripped her hip while the other one slid down the pole just enough to clasp her hand in his, and he swore he could hear Liana let out a small sigh- surely she was remembering their night together. Her head leaned back on his shoulder, exposing even more of her neck, a reminder of the many marks he left on her body, and Cassian was torn between closing his eyes to stop himself from giving in to his hunger and need for her touch, and staring as long as he could just to burn the memory of her shape into his mind.

The hovertram finally slowed to a stop, and he realized he was wouldn't even be given either option.

He wanted her to stay; he didn't want to leave.

Part of him wondered if he should try and ask, but the moment the doors hissed open, Liana stood upright again, and she leaned away from Cassian. As the people around them got up to exit the tram, he, too, finally noticed just how far he let his composure slip, how far he'd traveled from his deep-cover identity, how far he'd lost himself in the memory of that night, and he immediately straightened up.

They both exited from opposite ends of the tram car, as if the encounter never happened.

As Bi’el stepped onto the platform and re-adjusted his jacket, he looked around the corners of his vision to check for any possible spies. In reality, Cassian was looking around to see if Liana hesitated to leave as well, if the thought of him lingered in her mind the way she did his.

But despite the bustling crowd, Liana was nowhere to be found.

_No one in their right mind would stick around for a coward._


	4. Chapter 4

She was supposed to be a target.

A mission.

Not someone who would become his downfall.

Killing off Ilex wholly went against Draven’s orders, most especially when it would mean coming back to base with almost nothing to show for. More than a year and a half in deep-cover, and any hopes that Ilex’s connections could lead to something meaningful for the Alliance were dashed the second he pulled the trigger.

Liana gave up the evidence Ilex needed. He had it in his hands.

Little did Ilex and Bi’el know how quickly and quietly Vivian's friends were able to infiltrate and steal more than half his credit reserves- it was clear they had the information they needed well before Liana was apprehended and forced to relinquish what Ilex so badly, if incorrectly, desired.

If he weren't so exhausted and feeling a rush from having just shot Ilex in the dark and dirty duracrete hangar, Bi'el would've laughed at how foolish he was for ignoring the bike Liana purchased. To think she had the cunning and the know-how to take such a nondescript item and modified it so that it could quickly convert to an illegal, makeshift blaster rifle, hidden in plain sight. The Alliance really could use someone like her, and that wasn't just born out of Cassian's personal bias.

He was surprised that Ilex had the audacity to actually get his hands dirty by cornering Liana with his airspeeder and attempting to beat her down himself with the help of some of his burlier henchmen. Rather than have them beat Liana to death or shoot her down, they pinned her down, readying her body for him. Cassian knew that strategy- Ilex wanted to see the light in her eyes snuffed out up close, an assurance that what he wanted dead was truly dead.

Underestimation led to Ilex’s downfall, however, and as Liana scampered away, having barely escaped death by Ilex's bare hands around her throat, Bi’el looked at Ilex, a crumpled heap, staring up at him as his breathing became more and more labored.

“Why?” was the only thing Ilex could utter.

“Some things are better left unanswered,” Cassian answered, finally able to shine through his cover persona. Ilex noted the change in Cassian’s voice, his style of speaking, having suddenly switched to a non-Imperial accent, and Ilex’s eyes widened just slightly at the revelation before the life faded from his body.

In the simplest of terms, Bi’el was tired. But Cassian was _exhausted_. He knew that Ilex was covering something up, but the more he’d seen Ilex behave after marrying Vivian- a prostitute desperate for a better life, who only agreed to marry him after he dropped a pile of credits on her lap after having sucked him off- and the abusive interpersonal dynamic that followed, the dirtier he felt. Even if Bi’el planted himself as Ilex’s “personal assistant”, the cost Cassian had to pay for it became far too steep for so little reward. And, for what? Intel that mattered very little to the Alliance? Cassian felt his humanity helplessly stripping away the longer he stayed as Bi’el, killing people that weren’t even related to his real goal, especially those who didn’t remotely deserve to be brought down by Ilex’s tyranny. He couldn’t wait to head back to base and finally be rid of his cover identity.

Carefully grabbing Ilex’s blaster with a gloved hand, he placed the blaster in his hand and shifted his limbs, then got to work, strategically but carefully shooting the body in other places, then at nearby speeders, before walking away.

Apparent death by a mob hit was the kindest scenario that Ilex didn’t deserve, but Cassian calculated the risk to be the safest option when the local Stormtroopers find the body.

Bi’el left the garage as though nothing had happened. Walking through the alleyways of the local slums, he passed by a number of market stalls, each selling different goods. Nighttime had fallen, and the air was crisp and clean. Perhaps it was just his spirits feeling lifted at what he’d just done, but every breath he took felt lighter, more refreshing.

Some children were playing a game of tag nearby. They ran and squealed and screamed and giggled, and Bi’el stopped in his tracks to let them circumvent him. They ran around him, like a stone in the middle of a stream, and he lifted his arms to ensure no one accidentally got hit.

That’s when he felt a sharp sting in his side.

Bi’el hobbled over to the wall nearest him and winced. He pressed two fingers to his side and looked at them: bright, warm, sticky blood.

He craned his neck to see a child concealing a blade as he separated from the pack of other kids. Cassian started to reminisce about the days when he would throw rocks at Stormtroopers, and, later, hand grenades- the early days of his rebellion.

Of course the galaxy would send a child to end him.

He felt a sudden chill in his blood and his head started to spin. He looked up in a slight panic and saw a man in the shadows, and Bi’el immediately recognized him as one of the more prominent henchman for the syndicate Ilex recently brokered a huge deal with. Clearly they’d come to collect, but with Ilex dead and the credit chips stolen…

Of course they would lace the blade with slow-acting poison.

First Liana and her ingenious hoverbike modifications, and now this. Cassian would laugh at his own terrible luck and sense of ignorance if it weren’t for the fact that his exhaustion was worse off now than it was in the duracrete garage.

As the man in the shadows disappeared to leave Bi’el to his fate, Bi’el managed to head over to the patio of the local cafe, plopping down on the seat to rest. There wasn’t much left that he could do, not when he was so far away from his ship, from any usable comms, from any sort of help in the heart of Imperial territory.

Then, she appeared.

Bi’el had to blink repeatedly just to make sure it wasn't a hallucination, but there sat Liana, across the small, round table.

“We got the credits we needed to pay for everyone’s debts, plus plenty more for financial stability, no thanks to what that bastard did to Vivian,” she said without so much as a “hello”. Her face still looked tired, but there was something in her voice that felt like a weight had also been lifted from her shoulders.

 _Well, as long as someone got something out of this_ , he thought bittersweetly.

But as far as deaths went, he could at least die knowing that someone like her would be the last person he sees.

“I’m sorry it turned out like this,” Bi’el coughed. The dizziness was getting stronger, and he could feel his head lolling back and forth just to try and keep steady.

“Why did you help me?” she asked after a moment of silence.

He tried his best to take in her tea-colored eyes as he spoke. “You were fighting for a cause. I wanted to help yours than his.”

She eyed him carefully. “You’re not Imperial, are you? Saying the word ‘cause’ like that.”

Cassian chuckled. “Captain Cassian Andor, Rebel Intelligence.”

“Are you sure you want to tell me that?”

“You’re not an Imp.”

“You don’t know that.”

“But I trust you. I’ll be dead soon, at any rate,” he said, opening the side of his jacket to reveal the stab wound.

She started to get up and reach out to him. “Let me patch you up.”

He shook his head. “Poison.”

Her hand fell slowly as she realized what that meant for him, and sank back down to her seat. “Let me help you.”

“I’m afraid there’s not much anyone can do to help me. I can’t get back to my ship in time, and I can’t even look for medical help. My identity is a target for all the syndicates that Ilex owes, and if anyone figures out who I _really_ am before I can leave this kriffing rock of a planet, I’ll be captured and tortured for intel.” How ironic.

His head continued to bob; it was a struggle to keep itself upright. He found himself blinking far more than usual, naively hoping his vision would somehow improve from it.

The poison was sinking in further.

She was quiet for a while, and she wanted to reason with him, Cassian could tell. But soon, her frown deepened as she realized the gravity of the situation he was in.

Instead of arguing with him, though, she simply looked up at him, and with an air of resignation, she asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

That was a good question.

Cassian thought back to when Bi’el received the holo, the very item given to him on the very day he’d been exposed to her, and how she left him curious about her every day since. He remembered the sudden desire he had to see her walking in real life, if it was just as alluring to witness with his very eyes rather than through a mediocre-at-best holo.

If there was anything he’d like to see in his final breaths, she managed to place herself pretty high up on the list.

“I like the way you walk,” he said slowly, his voice growing fainter by the minute. “Let me watch you walk away. There’s no need to help me; I’m in a deep cover assignment, so no one knows where I am. I’m as good as done here.”

Liana arched an eyebrow. “That’s all you want?”

“If I’m going to die, I’d rather die having seen something pleasant.”

Sighing, she stood up and hugged Cassian. “Thank you,” she said in a low but caring voice. He wanted to know what, exactly, she was thanking him _for_ , but he suspected it was for more than just saving her life.

She cupped his face and planted a gentle kiss to his forehead; he found her soft lips comforting.

He didn’t want her to leave, not when her hands were still resting on his own cheeks. Not when he suddenly had a strong desire to remain in her arms, wrapped up in an embrace.

 _Don’t put her in that position_ , the dark voice in his head hissed. _After everything you’ve done, you don’t deserve that kindness_.

There was a sadness in her eyes as she smiled sincerely at him, and the cold chill of the night air practically choked him as her hands left his face and she turned around to walk away.

As Cassian leaned back on the chair to relax as much as possible, he smiled bitterly at how his vision started to blur and fail him just as Liana started walking. But despite this, the sway of her hips and the confident snap of her heels as they hit the ground were recognizable.

She didn't turn around to look back at him as the distance between them grew.

It was probably for the best.

 _The coward is punished with a cowardly death_ , said the dark voice, but it, too, was just as weak as him, and came out as the quietest of whispers in his mind.

He closed his eyes for the last time, trying to burn the image of her to the back of his eyelids, and sighed in contentment as the poison took over and the last of his energy faded away.

* * *

She was supposed to be a target.

A mission.

A passing person in a passing moment, never to be seen again.

But there he was, feeling an intense rumbling that reached the core of his body, and he was vaguely aware of the sounds of a ship’s engine roaring to life before hitting hyperspeed.

Cassian was surprised to find that he _could_ open his eyes, and there she was, still a bit of a blur, helping him reach the lone bunk with heavy steps.

He was already ready to accept the kind of death in store for him; that he would be actively pursued, and unable to leave, not with the poison setting in quicker than expected and no access to a hospital that wouldn’t turn him in for being rebel scum once the news of his true identity spread. It was the consequence of being in deep cover, and the risks were why he took on the task himself rather than let a younger agent take the reins.

He wanted her to leave him be, to let him accept his fate, to grant him the dying wish of watching her walk away, knowing that she was the only one he’d ever met that moved him, intrigued him, surprised him, and, most of all, reminded him just how alone truly was. The intimacy between them, the unshared words, the glances they exchanged- Cassian bottled all those memories up in a safe place in his mind. It turned into a guiding beacon of some sort, for the next time he found himself questioning his sanity. He just didn’t know that he wouldn’t get that chance again once he was stabbed.

“You should have let me die,” he mumbled with minimal coherency.

He felt Liana grasp one of his hands, which he was sure was cold and clammy, and he basked in the warmth of her dry, scarred hands.

“I couldn’t,” she said, her voice still low and sweet in all its bitter, jaded glory. Liana had only spoken two words, but the rest of the sentence was loud and clear: “Not when you could’ve also let me die, back then, in the garage.”

Cassian felt a pinch in the side of his upper arm, and it dawned on him that Liana had injected him with something. He looked at her despite the blurred vision, confused.

“Antidote,” she explained, not needing any other cues from him. “I had some extra credit chips. But you knew that.” He heard a clatter- as she disposed of the needle.

He was shivering as he croaked, “Thank you, Liana.”

She brought a blanket up to his chin and tucked him in. “Jyn,” she corrected. “Jyn Erso.”

_Jyn Erso?_

Why was that name so familiar?

He was barely able scratch the surface of his own memory when his body gave in to the temptation to sleep.

* * *

She was supposed to be a target.

A mission.

“A whore,” he was told. Someone to surveil. Another thing to do for Ilex in hopes that he might actually obtain intel worth delivering back to base for. Not someone who would become his downfall. A passing person in a passing moment, never to be seen again.

Instead, Liana- _Jyn_ \- took him by surprise, fed his touch-starved body, and had shown him an intimacy and tenderness he never thought he’d experience again. Her presence decorated his inner space and brought it back to life without a grand exchange of words or declarations. She offered him a reminder of his humanity, digging up some of the shreds of it that were buried under his cover. She trusted him, gave him a glimpse of her vulnerability, and he responded in kind with a look into his own.

She bought him time he didn’t deserve.

She also offered him intel he so badly needed to bring back to base. It wasn’t the kind he was expecting, but it was all in her hands, in the form of a holo- evidence of the whisperings he’d heard from other Imperials while undercover, something about a weapon.

The holo was more than just evidence and intel; it was _hope_.

Relieved that he could finally shed himself of the Bi'el alias, Cassian had asked her why she came back for him, risking her safety when the other syndicates put a target on his back after Ilex had been left for dead. She could have sought out another rebel, holo in hand, and left him to bleed away in that cafe.

_And yet, why?_

“You gave me hope,” she admitted in a quiet corner of the hangar bay, her voice barely above a whisper, like it was a secret she didn’t want exposed to the world.

He didn’t realize it at first, but his mouth crept up in a small smile, though mostly out of his own dry sense of humor. Little did she know that he broke his cover to help her because _she_ gave _him_ hope. She quickly went from a foreign body to a person he wanted to become even more familiar with; “whore” to “savior”, “target” to “asset”.

And as he watched her walk away from him, with the stride he’d grown fond of, Cassian could only hope that, in their fascination with each other, she could then go from "asset" to “partner,” in every sense of the word.

Luckily, as she brushed past him, the glance they shared hinted that she might want the same thing as well.

Walking back towards his quarters, he belatedly noticed that the dark voice in his mind was nowhere to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you **so much** for being on this journey with me! There are plenty of SQC AUs in this fandom, and I'm very happy you've read mine from start to finish. This is also the first multi-chapter fic I've finished! I'm pretty chuffed about that.
> 
> I still can't believe this was supposed to be my "shorter, less eloquent" fic for rebelcaptain smut weekend (I had another fic in mind but I needed a lot more planning, so I put it on the back burner in the meantime), but I really hope you enjoyed this story.
> 
> [Pop 'round my tumblr](sleepykalena.tumblr.com) and come say hi!


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